1000
CHINESE
FOUNDATION CHARACTERS
BY
Y. C. JAMES YEN and DANIEL C. FU
ROMANIZATION, TRANSLATION
and
VOCABULARY
BY
WILLIAM C. WHITE
BOOK 1
(250 Characters)
School of Chinese Studies
University of Toronto
100 Queen's Park
1944
^80^
to
FOREWORD
These "Thousand Foundation Cliaractersnare
those selected and used by Dr.Y.C .James Yen*
the founder and national director of the
Mass Educational Movement in China.
Many millions of China1 s illiterates have
learned to read by the use of these primers,
and they have been found remarkably useful
in enabling westerners to acquire a know-
ledge of written Chinese. The lessons are
in very good Kuo-yu»so they are also most
suitable for those desiring knowledge of
the spoken language.
Chinese characters are essentially basic ,
each character being a word , and each word
being monosyllabic. Sometimes two charac-
ters are used together, to express an idea
which either character alone might not do
so well. They are oftentimes pictograr
phio, especially in their archaic forms ,
and the more complex characters are usual-
ly ideographic.
In Chinese dictionaries the characters
are invariably indexed under the 214 Rad-
icals, which are arranged according to the
number of strokes required to write them.
The arrangement of characters under these
radicals is also according to number of
writing strokes, but not counting the rad-
ical strokes.
The characters in Chinese literature are
usually arranged in vertical columns, and
are read from top to bottom beginning from
the right.
Apart from its formfwhich includes its
indexing radical, each character has its
meaning tits sound, its tone number, and its
syntactic usage.
For the convenience of westerners, sounds
of the Chinese characters are expressed
by the English alphabet in what is known
as Romanization* There are many systems
of Romanization,but no one has been found
adequately to cover the various and vary-
ing sounds of the Chinese language, and all
have serious limitations to universal or
common use. The system used in these
lessons is that known as Wade's Romaniz-
ation,and is that invariably used in dic-
tionaries, and in diplomatic and commercial
usage. While it may appear to be a system
of inept phonetic spellings of Chinese
words, yet by use and familiarity it is
found to be a very useful and workable
system.
The following are some of the more im-
portant sound values of the English let-
ters in this system:
Vowels
a as in father; e as in fed, and e as u in us J
I as long e,and also as i in with, and when
standing alone may be written yl.
o as in moan,u as in rule;u as oo,and when
standing alone may be written y5Ttt as in
nut.
Consonants
J, as r in run;kf as k,and k approximates g;
p' as Ef5^ £ approximates b;tf as t,and
t approximates d.
Diphthongs
ai as in aisle ;ao as ow in how;ei as in
deign; iu as eu in feudjou as in soul.
(Continued on last leaf of this book)
LSSSOIT 1
5
m b
^
—
A
A A
A
A
+
A *
©
;
#
4. ^
^
*
•
> 1
1
9
Yi Jen
erh shou,erh j<
sn szu
shou,
san jen
liu shou,szu $(
en pa
shout
wu Jen i
shih shou.
A man
[has) two hands
ftwo men (have)
four handsf three men(have)six hands,
four men (have) eight hands»five men
(have) ten hands.
1
VOCABULARY 1
216/1
/v
226/9
125/7
458/64
Yl(i)1
one 9 a
JEN
nan,
person
SRH4
two
SHOU3
hand
SZU4
IE} four
481/31
SAH
three
428/1
%^ LITJ4
^ * six
315/12
A/A
^ ^ eight
373/12
— WU3
_/>7L five
607/7
450/24
SHUT
ten,
complete
VOCABULARY 2
2£l hsi1
l*P^r west,
1 foreign
158/146
** CHIU3
^ ^* nine, deep
84/5
> KUA1
/^*^ melon
263/97
% 3,4
XJL KUNG
~S \ altogether,
to give;"bov/
279/12
. «.x«
*^^W seven
37/1
*^V KU1TG1
4^ public, just;
duke ;male
277/12
llfij individual;
classifier
251/9
^V PEN1
Si to divide,
distinguish;
office, share
134/18
-^^^ also, and,
again
639/29
J* MEI3
""^ST each, every
334/80
-
3
I3SS01T 2
A A -
+
x x m
A A 1
a & m m m -t
ffi & M ' ' m
Hsi-kua ch'i-kotyu pa-kofyu chiu-ko,
kung erh-shih-szu ko.
San Jen kung fen,mei Jen pa-ko»
(There were) water-melons seven pieces $
also eight pieces, also nine pieces,
(making) altogether twenty-four pieces •
Three men evenly divided( them) , each
man obtaining eight pieces.
LESSOR 3
#
n x %
w?
»
-tfv
n % -
—
A
#
# ji/ m
5Z
Mj
ft
' % %
*
%
#
* -
5
•
•
•
Yi Jen hsieh tzu. Hsieh yi t1
ien tzu,
hsieh yi ti tzu,yu hsieh
shan
tzu shui
tzu. Szu ko tzu,tou hsieh-te hen hao«
A man wrote characters.
He wrote a
heaven1 character, he wrote an1
earth1
character,
(and) also wrote fmountainf
character (
and) f water1 character.
The four
characters , (were) all written
very well.
5
/
VOCABULARY 3
HSIEH3 t»
\**\J to -write ^J^ water, fluid
175/40 467/85
*
~ T'lEN1 +0
<S\±. heaven, sky; ^~^J
d av i natural ▼
|^ TZtJ4 lj£ TOU(tu)1
^J written word; *^^l f^1'
a name, style tne whole
586/39 533/163
Tfi
to get,
dayinatural >f attain
523/37 505/60
TI4 #^ HEN 3
•^W-J the earth, 1*^
very,
position exceedingly
511/32 153/60
w ■ f mountain, ^*>r
HAOM
good, well;
hill;wild very
434/46 150/38
6
41/40
M
638/74
VOCABULARY 4
family; class;
people
YU3
to have
*
3
male % man $
son
354/102
±j ti'
ftC-* particle:
"V adjectival,
^ adveroial,
possessive
509/106
HU3
•*
369/38
woman,
female
old;very;
skilled
289/125
ESIAO3
• small, petty
J
X71/42
j^^ T ♦TJIRJ *
1 1^1 with; all;
together
581/30
CH'IH1
to eat;
*T± suffer;
^^ steamer
71/30
129/184
FAIT
cooked rice,
food
LESSOU 4
— # # # # —
is] * # * js *
ȣ ft #7 #7 #7 A
' ' ' ' A
Yi chia pa Jen,yu nan~ti,yu nii-ti,
yu lao-ti,yu hsiao-ti,-
yi-t'ung ch'ih-fan.
In a family of eight persons, there
were male, there were female, there
were old, and there were young, -
and in one group( together) they ate
their food.
8
LESSQH 5
* ft J *— *
A #7 #j & if n
W - [SI
* ** ^ * #- £
ITiu ma t'ung tBou,yi ch'ien yi hou.
HBiao-hai wen lao-Jen:
"Ch!ien-ti shih niu ma?
Hou-ti shih ma ma?"
Lao- Jen shuo "Shih".
An oac and a horse together walked*
one in front and one behind.
A small hoy asked the old man:
"I 6 the front one an ox?
Is the hinder one a horse?"
The old man said "Yes".
4
365/93
**V ah<
VOCABULARY 5
NIU* J Win *
an ox
horse
n
603/30
to ask,
problem
SHUO1
326/187
y&r^jto speak ,
scold, talk
469/149
A>_ tsou * ~2^T calJJSS *
^"^^to walk, go, M>| "before,
555/156
in front
MA.
64/18
^ SHIH4
* >J interrogative .A^^ to be, yes,
partiole thus
326/30 453/72
HAI
5^ child, hoy
M» HOU*
^^fc. behind,
145/39
157/40
after
10
VOCABULARY 6
X
SHAJJG
3,4
TU2'4
above; go up: X*B\ to read,
upon; superior ^* study
438/1 567/149
176/10
±
445/100
HSIEH
first, before,
ancient
SHU
book, letter,
to write
SHENG
to beget,
grow, life
CHIAO *'4
to teach;
doctrines
50/66
HSUEH(hsiao)2
194/39
to learn,
education
11
LESSON 6
if
0
* * A
w^ w^c Pi
• 9
Hsien-sheng chiao shufhsueh-sheng
tu-shu. Chiao yi k'o^tu yi kfo.
Yi JIh cMao yi k'o,
pai jih tu pai k!o.
A teacher teaches books » a scholar
reads "books. He teaches a lesson,
and he reads a lesson.
In one day he would teach one lesson,
(and he) in a hundred days v/ould read
a hundred lessons*
12
LESSON 7
# H
* n m m
# * 5 * * 4>
3E *
«9 £
J£
San ko hsiao-hai-erhf
yi ko kfu,yi ko hsiaof
yi ko pu-kfu pu-hsiao«
Ko yu ko ti shen-chfi,
chen- cheng hao kfan I
There were three small boys,
one was crying 9 one was laughing $
and one neither cried nor laughed •
Bach having hie own disposition*
really was interesting(good) to see i
13
VOCABULARY 7
2 ' A 2
SKEH
£* ERH" ^ • SHBUr "
X V^ infant ,"boy, ^T'r* Deity; spirit;
son ' very
124/10 444/H3
-*|^ K'U ^ CH'I 4
^^^ to weep, cry £f£\. air;force;
-^ ^ »'f*li temper
262/30 40/84
jrAr hsiao4 £l
^^^ to laugh, ""/%
glad ' *
172/118 24/109
* negative, not ^1 ■ > correct
421/1 28/77
Z> K0(ke)« ^^ K'AN1'4
'vJi each, every, ^§1 to look at, see;
all "7* look after
251/30 241/109
A^T HSIAO 4 jfe CHEW '
genuine; truly
A 1.4
CHENG '
14
VOCABULARY 8
i[^ CHfING 1
pi green, "blue,
* * "black
82/174
g&sHui'
*lZXm to sleep
468/109
Ag TS'AO3
• | grass,
* careless
547/140
*K FEI *
^| f** negative, not
132/175
sSt£t chi '
A CH'AKG 2
J|# frequent ,
' constant
17/50
~ySf~ fowl,
chicken
31/172
ik oho'
■V^f pig»ewine
f^f oneself , from
93/94
585/132
255/94
til ^
\jt/ fromjorigin;
follow
636/102
15
r
LESSOF 8
& >£ M 7t # #
# * #1 m # *
t m i# ^ * %
Ch'ing ts'ao ti-shang,
yu chi yu chu yu kou.
Tsou-ti tsou,shui-ti shui,
ch'ih-ts'ao-ti chfih-tsTao,-
tou fei-chfang tzu-yu«
On the green grassy earth, there were
fowls and pigs and dogs.
Those that walked were walking, those
that slept were sleeping, and those
that ate grass were eating grass, -all
in a state of unusual contentment •
16
LSSS01T 9
* -& & £
te • * # * « #
X ^ * * IB BH
* = *t # T T
ia % ft Hi l '
Hung-hua k'ai-liao i
Pai-hua kfai-liao i
Hunc-hua tsai ts'un neiw
Pai-hua tsai tsfun pel.
Nlen-nien erh snn yiieh,
hua hung yu hua pai#
The red flowers are open t
The white flowers are open I
The red flowers are on the south of
the village.
The white flowers are on the north
of the village^
Year *by year in the second and
third months, there are flowers
that are red»and flowers that
are white*
17
VOCABULARY 9
Pb HUNG2
%%WJ* red
% % TS'UN '
^\ %J village
212/120
562/75
J^A HUA1
*t* ^ flower ;vioe;
to spend
200/140
JUw BAN2
; * ?>r south
355/24
\ 9\ J to open
It"'
^^ V» north
236/169
391/21
*> LIAO8
V finished,
past, over
303/6
>JC NIEN 2
year, age
362/51
^•^v white
£| YUEH 4
/\| noon, month
417/106 654/74
k TSAI *
A^_ at, in; living
538/32
,
18
*
VOCABULARY 10
HSIN ' % YEH
aL
new, fresh ^m^ also, and
182/69 620/5
f'J
TAD «# KUA1T
to reach, 1&Lr^ glad, happy
arrive " ^
500/18 203/76
* 3rou **Cr t0 rejoice,
360/9 16V30 JOy'8lad
"7\ congratulate JT* *
JE(jo)*
hot, to heat
156/154 229/86
«^^| I, myself MP J bustle, noise,
. , ^ disturb, so old
370/62 357/lgi
19
LSSS01T 10
'4s
m a
& a % & %■
% m
# *•
*
Hsin-nien tao-liao I
Ni shuo ho-nien,wo yeh shuo
ho-nien.
Jen- J en huan-huan hsi-hsi,
clua-chia je-Je nao-nao#
The Few Year has come 1
You say 'Greetings of the Year1 $
and I also say 'Greetings of the
Year1.
People are joyful and happy,
families are excited and "busy.
20
L3SS01T 11
X ft % &
* Sk fe & #
t* % it s ±. 4
Mr % ft
Yi ch'un hsiao-hai-erh,
tsai ch'ang-shang ta-ch'iu,
Tung ch'i hsi lof
nan chfi pei lo.
Yu t*iao yu hsiao*
chen shih k'uai-lo*
A group of snail "boys, (vreie)
on the courtyard playing ball*
It ascended in the east and
cane down in the westf
it ascended in the south and came
down in the north*
They were Jumping and laughing , and
truly they were happy*
21
V0CA3TTLAKT 11
CH'UN 2 Xjm CH'I 3
M.
group ,gang, ^^^^ arise, to rise,
flock begin
124/123 40/156
&
£ CH'IU 2 *ZZ L0 4
"ball, globe ,rv» to fall, drop
86/96 316/140
^J level area, ^7\J to jump, dance
arena, field
18/32 518/157
rfc-r™3 bb- K'UAI<
wj to strike I7\ quickjhappyj
sharp} soon
484/64 265/61
^ TUHG* ^^ LE(lo)4
^^ East ~?J> Joy,
. to rejoice
578/75 291/75
22
VOCABULARY 12
jf HSIUNG ' y£f CHUNG I'4
^l^ elder brother \ middle, midst
188/10
108/2
jSy" younger
" brother
512/57
A^L> HSING 2
• J to walk, act,
motion, deeds
184/144
jj* TS°4
^ >^ to sit
552/32
Art CH'UAN *
7jtf boat
tit"'1'
v3f<J to ride
horseback
38/187
~\ cliff, bank
102/137
4/46
■*| river
Jfy KEKGM
^^^^, still more
155/85
247/73
23
LESS01T 12
»^7 mt
£ JtL £ % JL
& ft %■ m m & %
# # ± ,$ + *& -
& *
4r ' A
tfc
Hsiung-ti erh Jen;
ti tso cli'uan^tsai ho-chung hsing;
Tisiung ch'i raa,tsai an-shang tsou.
Ch'uan hsing-te kfuai,ma tsou-te
keng k'uai.
Tliere were two "brothers:
tlxe younger sat in a boat,which
proceeded along the middle of the
river; the elder rode a horse f that
walked on the hank(of the river).
The "boat proceeded quickly, but the
horse walked still more quickly.
24
I3SS0H 13
« H 4SL % 'j> - ffl =
& & IS gA ^ ^
sj "
San ko jenjt'ung-lu ch!u-ch!u mai
ts'ai. Yi Jen shuo:
"VIo mai chi,ni nai yii,tfamai jou".
San jen lco nai ko~ti,hen te-yi-ti
hui-lai.
Three men went out tocether to "buy
food* One man said:
"I will "buy fowl, you will buy fish,
and he will hay meat19*
The three men each "bought his
separate kind, and very v/ell satisfied
they came hack.
25
VOCABULARY" 13
tfA LU4 »f T'A1
^\Jt road,v/ay,path f \^ he, she, it,
other
319/157
487/9
| f A CH'U '
4*' | out, from
|^*J meat, flesh
97/17
231/130
^ CH'U 4
~^*\ to leave, gc
lfc» Yl(i)4
>» A^y thought, will.
dismiss
intention
117/28
220/61
IS* MAI 3
^\ to "buy,
*~~Sf to return;
purchase
a time
327/154
208/31 2
%A TS'AI4
i*f vegetables,
* LAI
^^T^ to cone;
/^T^^ pluperfeot
X!J^ food
541/140
284/9
4* ^2
/£\ fish
642/195
.
26
VOCABULARY 14
%%
Av CH'A2 "^Sr HUA4
tea spoken words
8/140 201/149
ft
KUAN ' KUO 2
hot el, inn, C2 country-
shop
268/184 280/31
^ LI llf
^fi^, inside, in, *T^
•^ inner
296/145 454/<5
SHIH
affair; to serve
to m*nr+ HSIA
^^ many, much, | below, down,
^ mostly next
529/36 164/1
T
WANG3
^5^ to talk, >f jt»
converse prooeed
495/149 594/60
27
IESSOH
14
■
!& $l % % ^r
K
if)
$
«
«
ft
# H 1
*
# 5^
IS
^
#j
M
«
#
T
V
$
A
i
•
»
¥
&
tt
&
0
Cli'a-laian-litt'an-hua ti jen hen to.
Yu tfan chia-sliih-tityu fan kuo-
shih-ti»yu tfan t1 ien-hsia-shih-ti.
Lai-lai wang-v?ang je-nao te lien.
In a tea- shop, the people v/ho were
talking together were very many.
Some T/ere talking of family affaire,
some of national affairs, and others
of affairs in general. The coning
and going were exceedingly hoisterous.
28
LESSOH 15
+ n £ « it m *
$* & # m ® % *t
-I* £ * * * fi t
1 » * jli W
m
ITung-ts'un chung,yu ts'ao-wu
shu-chien. Oh' i en-mien shih ho,
hou-mien sliih shan. Tso-yu shih
ko chung shu-nu. Tfung-chia
sheng-hao , shih-f en k'uai-lo •
In a farming village, there were a
few thatched cottages. In front
there was a river, and at the back
there was a mountain. To the left
and the right there were all kinds
of trees. The life of a farmer is
a perfectly happy one.
29
VOCABULARY 15
*- YU4
tig} FUNG2 >-,
v^^, agriculture, '^& right hand*
w * farm, to farm to honour
368/161 639/30
A W >£^ CHUNG 3' 4
/$. house, room ^3r seed;kind;
~~ f-*» to sow
605/44 109/115
SHU *
#
SHU
number, a few; %|i*-J tree
to count '
463/66 463/75
^| CHIEN J'4 JL MU *
|pM between, ^^ wood, tree
^ to separate
58/169 350/75
3Z^ MIEN 4 V£
*^*/ face, surf ace TV?
HUO2
alive j to live;
* *„/,„,. motion
342/176 214/85
A
TSO 3
left hand,
552/48
30
_: I
/&^
HUI 4
y % HSIN '
w ^^ heart, mind;
n
meeting,
to meet
centre
209/73
181/61
7§Z»
CHANG1
extend; open
"boast S.
JtfA) T'ING !
; ^i»y»y to hear»ol>$y
14/57
527/128
ii
CHAW 4
to stand,
X^J present part-
stop
iciple; attain
12/117
19/109
*,
YEN3
$Lts°4 1
practice;
to do;make;
]
.ecture
be in action
625/85
553/9
i%
JHIANG 3
Lecture 9 tall
•&£ SHENG '
:f ^T soundfvoicej
wcplain
reputation
45/149
446/128
#:
MING 4
jilence,oalB
l 1
81/174
33
LESSON 16
«5
#
± «? # m n
1 ' *
A$>
% & m #i *f
#
n
§k jl m a m
*
#
& ® & « #
•
I
T f 4 1 ■
•
Ts'un- chung k1 ai-hui,tao-ti Jen
hen to. Yu Ico Chang li3ien-sheng,
chan tsai ehang-mien yen- Chiang.
T a- chi a tso tsai hsia-mienfching-
hsin tf ing-chaottou pu tso sheng.
In a village a meeting was convened*
and those who came were very many.
There was a Mr. Chang who stood above
and lectured. The audience all sat
"below quietly listening! without making
a sound.
32
LESSON 17
£
ft
* J £ §k tt
n I
Mi
#
0 A * W «
M 1
%
H
ft ■* * £ #
>b 1
•
»
* 1
* 1
-
•
t 1
Szu
clian-
tsai
ko hsiao hsiieh-eheng,
ti chan,tso-ti tso,
ts'ao ti-shang ch'ang ko.
"Ch'un feng ho, ch'un jiih nuan. 1
Ching-shen shuang-k'uai, 1
Hsi-ch'i oh'ung-man". 1
There v/ere four small students,
some standing, some sitting, on the
grassy ground singing a song.
"The
The
Our
Our
spring breeze is balmy,
spring sun is warm,
spirits are cheerful,
joy is full measure".
33
* I
VOCABULARY 17
18/30
249/76
107/72
136/182
4*
CH'AHG
to sing;
call out
154/30
song
ch'un l
spring
FENG '
wind,
breeze
HO2
to unite,
in harmony
I.1& HUAn3
^»OC». "warm, mi Id
368/72
JjJ- CHING1
79/119
essence, fine;
vigor } smart
SHUANG
lively,
cheerful
CH'UNG
467/89
act as
110/10
<%*f MAN*
3wj fun
entire
329/85
34
&
VOCABULARY 18
tzu 3 Ail** nien 4
elder sister ^* to read, chant
585/38 364/61
■^^^ younger J3*m to manage;
sister principles
334/38 295/96
>>A TS'UNG ' ^ PEN 3
f^>h» to follow, ^^3\te root, source j
from, since ™ C.of books;
566/60 395/75 capital
642/1C
a Journal, ,/v efficacy,
report, merit,
387/32 requite 276/19 efficiency
YUNG
to use;with,by
499/32 642/101
JL\m HSIN
I ^ a letter;
trust ;"beli eve
183/9
35
LESSON 18
* + ft »
A fr 1i 1® -fi
*P Jfl & $ jft
a # % it m. & a
Tzu-mei san jen,
ts!ung hstteh-tf ang-li hui chia.
Yi ko k'an paofyi ko hsieh hsin,
yi ko nien ti-li tu-pen.
Shih-fen yung-kung,chia-jen tou
huan-hsi.
There were three sisters(who)from
school had returned home. One was
looking at the newspaper , one was
writing a letter, and one was reading
a geography primer »
They were perfectly efficient, and
the members of the family were all
delighted.
36
LESSON 19
« •* *» # ii f « m
% ■ * M A
T ' * '
Yi ch'ing tsao,yu ko hsiang-hsia
jen, Viao-liao yi tan ts'aiftsai
ehieh-shang chiao mai«
Hao to jen,tou chfu-lai mai«
Yi-hui-erhfChiu pa ts'ai mai
wan-liao.
One early morning $ there was a
villager ,*ho carried a load of
vegetablesi and on the street called
them for sale. A good many persons,
all came out to buy. In a moment $
thereupon, they had taken the vegetables
and "bought them up completely.
37
VOCABULARY 19
▼ fj pure, clear J
82/85
-f
TSAO *
early, soon i
morning
545/72
#p
166/163
HSIANG
village,
country
*t:
IAD
516/64
oarryj
guard ;mix
TAN
2 load;Dear;
" to carry
492/64
>1* CHUH '
?*J a street
53/144
50/30
CHIAO
to call, let,
command
MAI
to sell
328/154
46
PA
grasp; handful;
guard
374/64
*fc
85/43
CHIU *
towards; then,
at onoe
WAF'
to finish
591/40
38
VOCABULARY 2<
>
86/115
CH'IU J
autumn »
harvest
3L
199/7
HU *
mutual ,
dovetail
457/66
29/62
SHOU J
to receive*
harvest
CH'ENG 2
to complete
perfect
\ ^ HSIAUG '
'^Pf mutual,
reciprocal
167/109
V. CHIAO '
, JL to join, unite;
-«^^^- deliver
47/8
*
338/119
MI3
hulled rice
millet
204/64
HUAH 4
to exchange $
alter
*
254/40
K'E(k'o) *
guest,
passenger
330/61
MAJTG '
e
"busy, haste
39
*
LESSOH* 20
x m Hk * - # #
te _h * # * ^ -
x £ >f * * * *
& *@ m & 'b $ %.
tt $ * t * ft *
Yu yi nang-cMafchTiu-tfien
shou-ch'eng hen hao,yi chia
ta-hsiao,tou t'iao mi chfu mai#
Ts'ung chia-chung tao kfe~
chfuan,lu-shang hu-hsiang
chiao-huan,yu mang yu kfuai-huo.
There was a farming family, whose
autumn harvest was very good, and
the rthole family large and small,
all carried the rice out to sell#
Prom the home until reaching the
passenger bo at, they mutually
interchanged(their loads), and were
both busy and cheerful.
40
.
LESSON 21
§l # # m m m
& M ji * ^ # m
& m & & m 9z &
% ® aj % '
Ch'ing-ming hou,yeh-wai
tfien~chfi ho-nuan. Hai-tzu-men
ch'u-ch'u fang-niujyu-hsieh tsai
shu-lin,yu-hsieh tsai tsfao-ti»
T 0 o - chao ch f ang-ko , shih- 1 s ai
kao-hsing.
After the Ching-ming festival, in
tlie open country the weather is
mild and warm. The children go
out to pasture the oxen; some in
the woods, and some in the grassy-
lands* Thqy sit and sing ditties,
and certainly are in high spirits.
41
VOCAERILARY 21
HSIBH
*J J -bright; \£m a little,
understand few
344/72 173/7
•^J a desert; ^^^ forest ,
™ wild, rustic * grove
620/166 309/75
Al WM I®5 SHIH
^ | outside, j^l true; solid;
foreign *^* in reality
590/36 453/40
¥f^ TZtf 3 1^ KAO '
J child;seed; |^T> high;no"ble;
noun- ending ™*V old
584/39 243/189
M(\ *&* ' >£!% HSIHG t>4
V >| sign of ~Y \ prosperibegin;
plural * * feelings
335/9 184/154
A/*^. to let go,
set free
132/66
42
VOCABULARY 22
$)
LIANG
two, a pair
301/H
►Jfcfc T'lEH 3
iron, metal
519/167
276/48
t
KUNG
work; time;
duty
TUI
353/163
4> H°3
yV fire,
214/86
ft
321/5
that , there ;
interrogation
to burn
to front;
reply; a pair
573/41 399/S1
%-J" CHE 4
*j&
this »here
nv
LUAET
confusion
Pi'
to compare
CHIA *
to add to
22/162 42/19
> (fl pilar ■
i^^ side, margin,
edge j place
408/162
43
WESSON 22
>b X M st # S3
*« # # it 4 £ 1H
# _t a tr tr * $
*r ' T T ft '
Liang ko t'ieh-kungjchan teai
tui-mien ta-tfieh« Che-pi en ta
yi-hsia,na~pien ta yi-hsia.
Huo hua luan fang, pi shu-shang-ti
hung hua,keng chia hao k'an.
There were tv/o "blacksmiths,
standing opposite each other heating
the iron. This side struck a hlow,
that side struck a blow*
The fiery flowers hurst in wild
confusion, (and) compared to the red
flowers of the tree, they were still
more "beautiful to see#
44
3z lb ft $ % ** 1
a * $, • m & l
ft & $ mxm A »
+ # & * ± # : »
_h fc « tl
jSSt e. l& -^ — '
* - # * H
• tiL ' « *
Fu-mu-ch1 in ta-jen:
Erh ch'ien-t'ien tao hsiieh-t'ang,
yi-lu p'ing-an. Chin-t'ien shang-kTo,
hsien-sheng hen ho-chfi,tfung hsiieh-
men yeh hen hao,hsin-li fei-ch'ang
k'uai-huo. Wang erh-wei ta-jen,
hao-hao pao-yang v/ei-yao.
Erh,Ho-chung Bhang* Erh-ytieh erh-jih
Dear parents, -great persons:
Your son the day "before yesterday
arrived at school, and the journey was
peaceful. Today I started lessone,the
teacher is of friendly disposition, and
my classmates also are very fine, so my
heart is unusually cheerful* I hope you
two great persona will very carefully
look after yourselves, for this is im-
portant.
Your son, Ho- chung, sends this up.
The 2nd .month, the 2nd. day •
45
VOCABULARY 23
3C
> FIT4
father
143/88
CH'IIT '
to love,
relative,
77/147 self
a
599/9
<£
386/9
350/80
415/51
iro
mother
P'ING 2
tranquil,
even
615/184
596/87
WEI *
seat; a post;
C.of persons
PAD3
to guard,
protect
YAHG
to nourish;
bear; support
WEI
2,4
to do ;he ;make ;
cause
YAO
quiet, rest; ""5^ to want; will;
still important
3/40 618/146
WANG 4
to look at;
expect
595/74
46
VOCABULARY 24
K»U
4«L J&
'■JTV^ no, not Xy "bitter,
*""^ weary
606/86 262/140
fff0HIA' Aft*"0'
• y\ price, value ***^ womb,mother
43/9 389/130
PAO " -MI> SHIH a
%
pr eci ou a V h\ knowl edge ;
experience
387/40 451/149
|* SHAO M £ CHIK *
f few,aeldom, S^** wi adorn,
wanting knowledge
440/42 65/111
^p K'O(k'e)3 -*A^ CH'ING3
-J to permit, •*« invite,
may, can * pleaae
253/30 83/149
k jb list 2 -^- ^Air 4
iSi to pity Stya to deairej
» ^ willing, a vow
307/61 652/181
47
LESSON 24
0 if m n
Pi
7T
#
' # £tl 4> ' # '
# ■# te # « a* it
1 * If w # * *
# * * ^ * #
Tu-shu haof tu-shu haof
Tu-te shu to mi chia pao.
Yuan tu shuftsai nien shaxu
E'o-lien to-shao kfu tfung-pfao,
Wu-shih wu-chih mang tao lao«
Ch'ing wen tu shu hao pu hao?
Kaoi Haol Haoi
To read is goodfto read is goodf
To read much is a priceless thing.
Ve should want to read while young •
Alas t so many distressed brothers ,
Toil in ignorance until old age#
I ask you is it good or not to read?
Good! Goodi Good!
48
(Continued from first leaf of this book)
There are only some 420 Romanized words
required to cover all the sounds of Chin-
ese characters , so that where many differ-
ent characters hare the same sound , it
would he impossible by the Romanization
alone, to know which particular character
was intended i unless that character was
in sight. This difficulty is met to some
extent "by the tonal system.
The Mandarin dialect , which is the basis
for the Kuo-yti or National Language ,has
four tones, anct each Chinese character
carries one of these four tones, and in
some cases more than one, when a different
meaning or use is indicated*
The respective tones for the characters
are the same all over China wherever the
Mandarin language is spoken, but different
localities give different intonations to
the tones. These differences are rapidly
disappearing, due to the spread of the Nat-
ional Language, which is producing a more
universal standard of pronunciation, inton-
ation, and syntactical usage, and bids fair
to absorb the various dialects and brogues
of the country*
Chinese grammar, when compared "with that
of Western cognate languages, is conspicu-
ous by its simplicity and its elasticity.
The requirements of grammar are met chief-
ly by means of a definite word order, and
also by a few much used auxiliary words.
Syntactic and idiomatic use of words,
rather than fixed grammatical rules, are
essentials for logical and accurate expres-
sion of ideas in the Chinese language.
The student is recommended to o"btain a
copy of CH.Fenn's "Chinese-English
Pocket-Dictionary" , and endeavour speedily
to acquire facility in its use.
This dictionary gives various tables
essential to the study of Chinese , includ-
ing the list of the 214 Radicals.
The vocabulary of each lesson given in
these texts contains the new characters
first met with in the particular lesson.
Under each character in the vocabularies
a double number is given , the first part
of which is the page in Fenn's dictionary
where the character may be found, and the
second part of the number is the Radical
number under which the character is
indexed.
The strokes used to form each character
are always written in a particular order
and the student should learn the sequence
and follow the order in counting the
strokes in a character, or in writing
them.
These texts do not show the order of
strokes, but the student may obtain these
from copy-books which are obtainable, and
could readily insert the stroke numbers
on the large characters given in the
vocabularies.